CNC Mills are popularly known as machining centers. These machines are computer-controlled. They offer high quality of precision and speed. Once the computer is set up according to specific requirements it runs automatically using a rotating cutter to cut the material. These mills are cost-effective method than traditional hand engraving.
For every machine to work efficiently, there are many optimal setups and configurations. After years of experience in the precision machining industry, Woodstock Precision Machining knows what it takes to make your cutting tools work at their peak. We conduct a lot of experiments every day to find out the best methods of operating a CNC mill and find out innovative methods for CNC machining.
Here are some of the tips that you can follow for operating CNC mills for your Business-
Get a quality vise- A good vise is extremely important to get your holding your workpiece. Work-holding is essential for the proper functioning of your machine. If you neglect this, you will face problems because your workpiece will shift before you even notice.
Get a good clamping kit- A good vise is useless without a decent clamping kit that will hold it firmly on the table.
Use pieces of O-Ring cork stock – This is a great trick for work-holding. Just add small pieces of O-Ring cork stock to the soft jaws for perfect work-holding.
Add interior slug into the chips- This is more useful than just keeping the interior slug intact. It will help the machine to work properly for long intervals without giving any special attention and will also save you from taking care of lots of M01 lines of code.
Use decent Cutters.
Misting Setup- If your machine does not have a flood coolant system, use a misting setup. This will help you to preserve the life of the cutters and avoid breakage.
You can use a large diameter end mill instead of a slug- The gap between the wall the slug can work perfectly, allowing a lot of space to the slug to move and work properly.
Check your rapid planes very carefully while using bolts or clamps- This allows you to secure a part for full profiling.
Run a second drill cycle for some parts- For producing some parts, you can run the second drill cycle. But make sure you do a partial pocket through the drilled holes before doing this.
Cut thin materials at once- This will save you a lot of time. Just combine all the thin materials and put a soft cap over it. Then cut all of them at once. The soft cap helps in distributing the pressure equally in all points.
Use pattern-C clamps for fast and secure holding- These clamps are extremely strong and work perfectly with your milling machine to hold the workpiece firmly at its place.
To make the remaining slugs soft and flexible you can do pre-drilling to take out most of the material.
Use your cutting stacks very carefully.
Re-cut the counterbores and use flathead screws to make the most out of the commercial soft jaws.